With the dust settling a little bit after yesterday’s 24-20 Cowboys win over the Lions that was marred in conspiracy after a picked up flag on a pretty blatant defensive pass interference call, the NFL VP of officiating is finally speaking out.
Dean Blandino (who caught the ire of owners around the NFL for being filmed by TMZ camera exiting a Cowboys party bus back in August) told the NFL Network that Dallas did indeed get away with a penalty on the aforementioned play in the fourth quarter Sunday.
Via CBS Sports:
“You can debate whether it’s pass interference,” Blandino said on NFL Network. … “The defender, he’s not playing the ball. That’s the first thing the officials look for. That’s not pass interference by itself. You can face guard in the NFL … it’s not a foul. Then we look to see (if) there was significant contact before the ball arrived that prevented Pettigrew from making the catch.
“And I think it’s a tight judgment call. When you watch the play, there’s a left hand on the shoulder. Does that materially restrict the receiver’s ability to make the catch? One official, the back judge, felt it was. The head linesman had a different perspective. They got in, they talked about it. As the referee was making the announcement — and we prefer that they get together before the initial announcement, then we can discuss it and make one announcement that there was no flag for defensive pass interference.”
Additionally, Blandino told ProFootballTalk.com’s Mike Florio (via Michael David Smith) that the pass interference call that everyone was clamoring for could have gone either way and that the real penalty committed was a defensive holding by Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens. That penalty alone still would have resulted in a new set of downs for the Lions.
“There is a jersey grab,” Blandino said. “And when you see the jersey grab before the ball is thrown, that’s defensive holding. So had the officials recognized that, we should have had a foul down for that infraction.”
Other questionable issues throughout that series of events that Blandino address include:
- The no call on Brandon Pettigrew for a facemask on Hitchens. Blandino said not enough contact was being made to throw the flag.
- Dez Bryant running out onto the field without a helmet to initially argue the Hitchens penalty isn’t an automatic penalty Blandino says. However the VP of Officiating would have ‘supported’ an unsportsmanlike penalty.
Here's the Pettigrew facemask on the no-call Hitchens PI for the #Cowboys haters. Again, can't have this both ways. pic.twitter.com/2moUdjyyzn
— SOrangeJuice (@SOrangeJuice) January 5, 2015
Blandino also addressed that party bus situation that has since emerged after what transpired last night with his officials. Blandino however didn’t say much only mentioning that what happened didn’t have anything to do with how yesterday’s game was officiated.
Blandino on Cowboys getting a gift from a ref after he was on Jerry Jones's party bust: "has nothing to do with how the game was officiated"
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) January 5, 2015
None of what Blandino has to say will fully satisfy angry Lions fans, only further reinforce their rage towards the NFL. Detroit got royally screwed on that play there’s no question about it but a single play or gaffe by the ref usually doesn’t cost a team during the course of a 60 minute game. Sometimes it does but this wasn’t one of those cases.